Voice of America journalistic standards and editorial decisions are discussed along with general media issues.

31 December 2009

Mobile Progress: A New Year's Gift for Iranians

Voice of America has unveiled a new Web application that will allow users in Iran to download and send content to VOA’s Persian News Network with their iPhones.

"This new application gives Iranians a unique opportunity to get the latest news on their mobile devices and to share with the world the news as it happens in their country," said Acting PNN Director Alex Belida. "It is a groundbreaking way to expand our reach inside Iran and deepen our relationship with a key VOA audience."

The application will enable users of Apple iPhones and Android phones to get the latest news from PNN and, with a single click, to send links to VOA stories via Facebook and Twitter pages and email accounts. The application will be available shortly in Apple’s online store, PNN’s Web site (http://www1.voanews.com/persian/news/) and on PNN’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The application, designed by the Washington-based company Intridea, also gives Iran’s “citizen journalists” the opportunity to use their iPhones and Android phones to send video and still pictures taken on their devices to a secure Web site where VOA’s PNN editors can download the images and review them for possible broadcast use and Web posting.

“This Web application empowers Iranians at a time when the government is staging a crackdown against opposition protesters,” Belida said. “As with the disputed elections earlier this year, VOA’s Persian service continues to be a leading source of news and information for Iranians.”

VOA has the largest combined radio and television audience in Iran of all international broadcasters, with one in four adult Iranians tuning in to a VOA program once a week. PNN broadcasts seven hours of television daily, repeated in a 24 hour format, and five hours of radio. Programming is also available around the clock on the Internet.

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VOA Media Watch

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 125 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages. The VOA Media Watch, formerly called the VOA News Blog, discusses the editorial integrity and quality of VOA content and responds to inquiries, comments and complaints from the general public and others related to that content. The Media Watch thus serves as a public source of information, explanation and analysis regarding VOA's journalistic standards and practices. General media issues are also discussed.

Alex Belida is the chief writer for the VOA Media Watch. He has been in international broadcasting since 1971. He served as Managing Editor of VOA News from 2004 to 2007. Before that he was a correspondent in Europe and in Africa. He has also served as VOA’s Senior White House Correspondent and as Pentagon Correspondent. Before joining VOA, he worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in both New York and Munich. He has a BA from Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., and a MS in Journalism from Columbia University in New York. He is a recipient of the prestigious Alumni Achievement Award from Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Director of VOA.